A Girl and Her Dog
by bewitchedbookworm84
Summary: Arabella Henley was stationed in Atlanta when the outbreak started. Her and her dog Axel barley escaped the city with there lives. After living in the woods for awhile they run into a certain crossbow welding redneck. Loathing insues until feelings start to bloom.


Things were getting pretty out of hand in Atlanta when they got the hell out of dodge. And when I say they I mean Arabella and her dog Axel. All the other men and women weren't as lucky as they were. That doesn't mean that they didn't struggle to escape. If it wasn't for Axel, Arabella would be nothing but a cold corpse.

Crouching down in the woods just outside the city they watched as it burned. The screams of the men, women and children could be heard for miles. As they sat there watching the horrific scene before them she scratched her handsome black German Shepherd behind the ear.

"Good boy, Axel. You really saved my ass back there," she praised him. The only indication that he heard her was a slight wag of his tail. Suddenly his head snapped to the right of them alerting Arabella to the fact that they were no longer alone.

They sat silently until she could make out the sounds of low moaning and cracking branches. Axel looked at her to see what they were going to do. She stood and tapped her hip letting him know to heel as they walked off in the opposite direction.

Even though she was able to grab her stash of weapons before they left she didn't see the need to fight. Don't misunderstand she loves a good hand to hand fight or an excuse to use her hand made weapons, but it had been a very long and trying day. Hand to hand combat was kinda her shit back in her training days.

They walk for what seemed like hours until they came across a cave. She held her hand up to Axel letting him know she wanted him to stay while she checked things out. She grabbed a sleek metal rod from her back and pushed a button releasing a scythe from both ends. She walked slowly to the entrance of the cave as she took out her military issued flashlight from her pocket and shined it into the darkness. Cautiously she made her way in and noticed a bend in the small tunnel. Peaking around the corner she realized it was empty as well as a dead end. She walked back to the entrance to signal to Axel that it was all clear. He padded up to her and sat by her feet.

"Let's see if we can find some sticks, make us a little fire," she said to him. They gathered as many sticks they could find in the dark. Obviously Axel had better luck than Arabella. They walked to the back of the cave and he sat, watching her as she made a small fire for them.

"We'll rest here for the night, but we have to keep moving away from the city tomorrow," she told him while unpacking a few things from her rucksack. He laid down with a snort as if to say, "Thank God, it's about time we get a break." Arabella just shook her head and smiles at him.

"Now don't get to comfortable, we still have to stay alert. Here eat some food and drink up," she said to him while placing his food and water on the ground. They ate their dinner together listening to the sound of the fire crackling. She packed everything up once they were finished. Looking over at Axel she said, "Get some sleep boy we will need all our energy tomorrow, don't know what kind of crazy shit we'll come across." She started removing all of her weapons as he drifted off to sleep.

She laid all of her prized possessions on the ground and removed her wet stone from her bag. This was her nightly ritual. She started with the retractable blade for her gauntlet, sharpening it to the point that the slightest touch would cut the flesh. Next came her ten throwing knives with twisted blades. Then her tonfa blades, these pieces consisted of a metal stick with perpendicular handles attached a third of the way down the length of the stick and blades at the end. After that was her double scythe and finally her chakrams. She treated them with the utmost care, just like she did when she forged them. That's right weapon forgery was a hobby of hers before shit hit the fan.

Returning everything to its rightful place she decided to clean her military issue .45 caliber pistol. Rolling her eyes she removed it from its holster. She hated guns, thought they were only meant to be used as a last resort or for hunting. Even then she thought they were a pain in the ass. She believed anyone who used a gun for fighting was a pussy.

After she finished cleaning her gun she decided to lay down knowing that Axel wasn't the only one who needed some shut eye. She knew she didn't anything to worry about while she was sleeping, he would warn her if something was up. The only thing she dreamt about that night was death, blood and the screams of the innocent.

They rose the next morning to the sound of birds chirping. Arabella unpacked their food and water once again so they could eat. After breakfast Axel sat and watched as she strapped all her weapons back onto her body. "It would probably be best if we stick to the woods for at least a few days, let things calm down," she said to him as she tapped her hip. They slowly left the tunnel making sure there were no threats lurking outside.

After a couple of hours walking they ended up at the main road. "We'll stay in for now, but we can follow the road. Maybe we'll come across a gas station or something," she said to the dog. She knew it seemed crazy to talk to a dog like it was a human, but most of the time she felt that he understood her better than people.

Eventually they did come across a gas station. The two crouched in the woods inspecting their surroundings. Arabella noticed there were empty cars at the pumps and the glass to the front of the store was smashed out. She didn't think much of it, just figured that people had looted the place. "Come on boy, let's see what the looters left for us," she said as they stepped out into the open.

The approached the station quickly and quietly. She has her gauntlet at the ready, strapped on her right arm. While she held her double scythe in her left hand. They tentatively stepped threw the front door and a bell chimed. As soon as the bell range Axel was on high alert. "What is it," she asked him in a whispered tone. Immediately after the question left her lips a person stepped out from on of the aisles. His clothes were torn and covered with blood. She noticed that his neck and both arms had huge chunks of flesh missing from them. His eyes were milky and his breathing was gurgling. Axel started to growl lowly with his hair standing on end. "No Axel, stay," she commanded. The once human charged at her. With a quick swipe of her scythe she slashed his stomach wide open, his entrails splashing to the ground. She was shocked to see that he was still coming at her. Arabella flicked her wrist releasing the blade on her gauntlet and stabbed him in the chest. Still he came with his hands out stretched and his teeth gnashing towards her flesh. He tackled her to the ground, Axel went to move. "No stay I got this," she yelled as she stabbed the man right threw the eye. His lifeless body slumped on top of her. Panting she pushed him off to her side.

As soon as the struggle was over Axel was by her side making sure she was alright. "I'm good," she reassured him. She got up off the floor and tried to wipe some of the blood from her hands. "I guess the only way to kill these things is through the head," she said mostly to herself. They carefully checked the gas station for more threats and supplies. The two left the small store just as quickly as they entered it. They re-entered the woods and walked for a few hours before stopping in a clearing where Arabella made an inventory of what they found. "We'll we did pretty good back there Axel, if we watch what we eat we should have enough for about two weeks in the woods," she said to the resting dog while petting him.

They rested in the clearing for about thirty minutes to eat. While Arabella was repacking her bag Axel rose from the ground quickly looking off in the opposite direction. This time she heard the disturbance too. The sound of rustling planets and snapping twigs. She prepared herself for whatever was to come while signaling Axel to sit by holding her palm out at her leg and moving it up as if to touch her shoulder. She held her breath as they waited and the noise became louder as well as faster. Then from out of the woods ran a deer with an arrow protruding from its body. It didn't slow down when it reached the clearing, it just ran straight past them dripping blood in its wake. Arabella and Axel wasted no time following the blood trail left behind.

They paced themselves slowly following the trail for about a mile or so when they heard the crunching sound of leafs coming from behind them. Once again Arabella signaled for Axel to sit, only this time she hid behind a tree using her dog as a distraction. Right next to her hiding spot walked a rough looking man carrying a crossbow. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed the big black dog sitting with his head cooked to the side starring at him. He raised his weapon pointing it in Axels direction and then he spoke with a thick southern accent, "You ain't gonna bite me are ya?" With those words Arabella stepped out from her hiding place and put the blade from her gauntlet up against his neck. She whispered in his ear, "If your finger even twitches towards that trigger I'll slice your fucking throat."


End file.
